Review: Elliot goes to war with ‘Mr. Robot’ in the riveting season 2 premiere

Mr. Robot has returned for a second season. I already published some spoiler-free thoughts on tonight’s two-hour premiere, so now it’s time to get into the specifics, coming up just as soon as I’ve discovered Seinfeld…

The Mr. Robot season 1 finale made an interesting choice in skipping over what seemed like major pieces of the larger fsociety plot – how the Evil Corp hack went down, what happened to Tyrell Wellick – to focus on Elliot dealing with the knowledge that he was Mr. Robot, and vice versa. At the time, I felt this was the right choice, since the show is ultimately about Elliot and what’s going on inside his head, and his epiphany about having multiple personalities was much more important than any plot mechanics involving secondary characters.

“Unmask”(*) actually rewinds to show Elliot executing the hack while Wellick watches – marveling that, “It’s almost as if something’s come alive” – and if it doesn’t show us where Wellick is, it has him alive and trying to make contact with both Joanna (through the phone hidden in the package he sent her) and Elliot (the call on the red phone at the end of the premiere’s second half). Even so, the premiere still keeps some cards unturned – like who appeared in Elliot’s doorway at the end of the finale, or the nature of the relationship between Price and Whiterose – and keeps the focus mainly on the war for control between Elliot and Mr. Robot.

(*) Technically, the premiere sticks with the nomenclature pattern of last year, treating each episode title as a computer file, in this case “eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc.” But since that’s a pain to type, and since each of these files is meant to represent a word or phrase, for simplicity’s sake going forward, I’m going to use the words themselves.

That is, again, where Sam Esmail should be devoting as much time and energy as possible to Elliot’s inner struggle, and here to the ways he is trying to keep that struggle from again exploding outward and affecting the rest of the world. Understanding who and what Mr. Robot is has changed everything for Elliot, who has gone off the grid, moved back in with his profoundly unpleasant mother, befriended newly-minted Seinfeld lover Leon, and even cut way down on the amount of time he spends talking to us. The revelation that the earlier narration about Elliot’s closed system was him talking to Krista, and not his “friend,” was a nice example of the show having its cake and eating it, too: Esmail had a lot of exposition to get through about the changes Elliot has instituted in the wake of the Evil Corp hack, but he also needed to establish just how deeply those changes run, up to and including Elliot’s estrangement from us.

That change in routine also meant a temporary change in the show’s aesthetic. Gone for most of the premiere were the familiar shots of Elliot or other people with their heads just barely in frame, as we don’t get our first major one of those until late in the second half of “Unmask,” and only after Elliot has discovered that Mr. Robot has, in fact, been getting out to play. In the meantime, Esmail the director got to show off in other ways, particularly with some of the single-take sequences early in the first half, and in the ways he depicted Elliot and Mr. Robot’s interactions when someone else like Gideon was present. Robot’s got nothing to lose now that Elliot knows what’s up and is trying to stop it, and their relationship has become much nastier and more interesting as a result.

But “Unmask” certainly didn’t give short shrift to the state of the world post-hack. We get to see Darlene struggling to bring focus to this larger new incarnation of fsociety, and realizing that the hack actually made things worse. (One of the premiere’s more powerful moments is a relatively small one, as we see the woman trying to convince an Evil Corp bank teller that she’s made her loan payments, even though all evidence is gone from the computer: of course Evil Corp has found a way to turn the hack to its advantage and use it to screw people over even more.) There was perhaps brief celebration in the wake of the hack, but now the world seems scarier and angrier than ever before, as epitomized by the vigilante execution of Gideon, who had nothing to do with the hack in the first place but wound up a patsy for the whole mess.

But while Price remains smug about the company’s position, the game’s not over yet, and Darlene cooks up an effective publicity stunt in forcing Scott the CTO to burn $5.9 million in public while wearing a Mr. Robot mask. (That sequence’s incorporation of New York at dusk and the synth-heavy “Take Me Home” is the best use of a song featuring Phil Collins in a TV drama since the famous “In the Air Tonight” montage from the Miami Vice pilot.)

There are two wars being waged in the series right now: Elliot vs. Mr. Robot, and fsociety vs. Evil Corp. “Unmask” suggests both are only just getting started.

Some other thoughts:

* The clip of President Obama referring to Wellick by name was created digitally by splicing together other POTUS sound bytes, but the bulk of the speeches seen on TV were simply repurposed from other talks. Leon Panetta gave the “cyber Pearl Harbor” talk back in 2012, for instance. I assume the Nancy Grace footage was newly recorded for this, as Grace has often been willing to play herself in this kind of show or movie. (Which makes me wonder who pop culture will use as the shorthand for media outrage once Grace’s HLN show ends.)

* Angela was the character who tended to represent normalcy in Elliot’s world, but now we see her being fully seduced by the power and respect she’s getting in the Evil Corp PR job, and even attempting to reprogram herself using those daily affirmation recordings.

* Joanna enters the season as you would expect her to: tied to the bed with bondage gear, ordering her new lover to beat her. It’s interesting to see her be relatively non-scary and maternal with the baby, but it’s early yet. If she’s going to be creepy with the kid, it’ll come later on.

* Several notable new characters: Craig Robinson as Ray, who’s been conversing with Mr. Robot while Elliot’s mind is turned; Sandrine Holt as Evil Corp’s chief counsel Susan “Madame Executioner” Jacobs, and Grace Gummer as FBI agent Dom Dipierro. The first season mostly sidestepped questions of law enforcement catching Elliot – the closest we got was Wellick, and he was quickly seduced to fsociety’s side – so I’ll be curious to see how far down this path Dom gets.

* Price’s speech to the feds was yet another reminder that when you give Michael Cristofer a persuasive monologue, good things inevitably happen.

That’s it for the premiere. Hoping to keep getting screeners for weekly episode coverage.

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"Review: Elliot goes to war with ‘Mr. Robot’ in the riveting season 2 premiere"

By: wittynole

07.14.2016 @ 4:02 AM

that was fantastic

and it felt like they were paying homage to the tie speech from rubicon when the evil corp CEO pointed and said, “you have something… right…right there” when Jack Lew had shit on his face.

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 3:28 AM

I was glad to read that the Michael Cristofer is a regular this season. I’ll never forget that tie scene, or Rubicon. :)

By: Arben

07.16.2016 @ 8:25 AM

‘Rubicon’ was a favorite of mine… up ’til the season/series ender, which I hated. Just thinking about it now, actually, I realize it had a lot in common with ‘Mr. Robot’ in terms of that episode being a complete game-changer breaking off the show’s world from the one we live in. Cristofer’s pained articulation is an interesting compare/contrast with Malek’s own narrative voice as Elliot; it may be an acquired taste for some, but I was happy to see him become a season regular too.

By: Arben

07.16.2016 @ 8:38 AM

My personal jury’s still out on Gummer, on the other hand. Joanna, Angela, Darlene, Gideon, and Price are already known quantities, so breaking away to follow their parts of the story didn’t rankle me, even though I don’t care much for how Angela’s written or portrayed. The introduction of Dom, though, felt really shoehorned in, entirely apart from how borderline(?)-laughable how much effort was made to highlight that Hoo-Boy, She Is a Real Character, and I would rather have seen that scene come in an episode where we later see her interact with core personnel. So far I trust Esmail, and it’s encouraging hearing that he has relatively short-term, finite plans for the show, but it would be easy for satellite storylines orbiting Elliot’s/Robot’s to dissatisfy in their distraction from what so riveted viewers when things started. We’ll see.

By: Angela

07.17.2016 @ 7:19 AM

In episode 2 of the first season Price tells Tyrell he will have to reschedule the interview for 2 weeks. He also says to Tyrell, “Nice tie.”

Cheers!

By: EA

07.14.2016 @ 4:16 AM

Was it just me or was Darlene missing a foot? It seems like someone had a fake leg in the scene where fsociety enters the smart house.

By: Trevor

07.14.2016 @ 11:59 AM

It was they guy who got his phone smashed, she was the second person up the stairs.

By: jack

07.14.2016 @ 5:05 PM

The editing of that scene was weird, easy to confuse it, but Darlene definitely had two feet…those were her boots.

By: bryant

07.18.2016 @ 9:37 PM

walking up the stairs, darlene has two legs.

but in the scene where she’s laying on the floor, it appears that she has one prosthetic on her right side. no?

By: MrVickiVale

07.14.2016 @ 4:33 AM

From the scene at the basketball game when the ball rolled over to Elliot and Leon, I got the impression Leon might be another Mr Robot-like personality that exists only in his head.

By: bryant

07.18.2016 @ 9:38 PM

certainly a strange relationship.

why would this guy want to eat every meal with Elliot?

By: mixhail

07.14.2016 @ 8:11 AM

Loved the first season, but the 2 hour premiere was a chore to get through. Not enough Elliot or Wellick. Instead we had a whole lot of moping around and a couple of shock moments that definitely didn’t rival any of the moments from the first season.

Whatevs, I guess this was just the table setting episode. The preview for the next episode looks more promising.

By: Elmer Flood

07.15.2016 @ 7:58 PM

Amen. This was a slog. A boring slog that crossed the line from “making a statement” to smug self-importance.

By: andrei

07.14.2016 @ 12:30 PM

Do we even know if that last scene is real or a dream? It was a really jarring cut from Elliot falling asleep at his church group to him in the hallway (his mother’s house?) with the phone ringing….

By: scott

07.14.2016 @ 1:52 PM

That was meant to mean Mr. Robot took over, and got him in contact with Wellick.

By: andrei

07.14.2016 @ 3:57 PM

Yeah, in thinking it over, I’m more convinced now that the whole scene is metaphorical, and the call is Mr. Robot’s way of sharing the where-is-Tyrell info with Elliot.

By: JC

07.14.2016 @ 6:58 PM

” the call is Mr. Robot’s way of sharing the where-is-Tyrell info with Elliot”

Also, given Mr. Robot’s combativeness, it may be his way to offer a concession to Elliot without appearing to outright concede.

Mr. Robot doesn’t seem like someone who concedes easily, and dropping Elliot suddenly into contact with Tyrell is probably the closest we’ll ever see to him bending over.

By: KR

07.14.2016 @ 2:12 PM

His new arrangement made me think it was Elliot’s mother at the door in the finale, but I guess it’s still an open question.

I loved how creepy Angela’s affirmation tape sounded in the context of hew new role with Evil Corp, plus the use of “confidence” here and in Price’s scene. You can’t run a con without confidence and that’s what Evil Corp is giving her. I hope she’s more prepared for their games than she seemed with the lawyer.

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 6:04 PM

I didn’t catch it, but I read that in the after-show when Rami Malek was asked to sum up his character in one word, he said, “committed”.
How clever!?

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 6:10 PM

Whoops! Wrong thread, sorry.

By: bryant

07.18.2016 @ 9:42 PM

drawing it out like this, the “who’s at the door?” reveal needs to be a big one.

Shayla (revealing that a lot of episode 6 was in his imagination)

Vera

Maybe Romero?

By: Ben

07.14.2016 @ 2:24 PM

So since “Mr. Robot isn’t real and exists only in Elliot’s mind” has been revealed, anyone up for a round of “What’s season 2’s major twist, if any?”

My theory: Elliot is in prison. Think about it: the rigorous organization routine, the randomly becoming friends with Leon, the basketball games, the church groups… even his bed looks like a prison bed. His “mom” is probably a cipher for a prison guard. He can see Krista because she’s his therapist, the meeting with Gideon is framed like prison visitation… there’s a lot to work with here. Biggest flaw is Ray (assuming he’s a fellow inmante) having a dog, but still, I think there’s something to this.

By: andrei

07.14.2016 @ 3:54 PM

I’ve seen that theory – my thought is that it would more likely be a mental health facility, either checking himself in or being taken under direction of someone (Darlene?). Jail is possible, but only under a different charge (Lenny’s work from the S1 finale, maybe?) – if he was arrested in connection with 5/9, it would be all over the news.

Under the asylum scenario, Leon would be a fellow inmate, Ray a nurse/social worker (Maxine could be a therapy dog), and his mom the director-slash-warden.

By: I Am Jack's Medulla Oblongata

07.14.2016 @ 5:18 PM

It’s possible, and with this show really anything is possible, but I’m not sure that works very well unless Elliot has committed himself voluntarily to an asylum or he’s in on some charge that has nothing to do with f society. Otherwise, why doesn’t Darlene know what’s happened to Elliot? Why doesn’t Evil Corp know what’s happened to Elliot? Why wouldn’t the Feds and Evil Corp be all over f society by now? Having Elliot in jail would connect a slew of dots, and why would Gideon still be under suspicion, or at least acknowledge Elliot’s complicity?

By: Amac

07.14.2016 @ 7:14 PM

I hadn’t thought of that till now, but the thing that did keep occurring to me was that Elliot (or actually Mr. Robot, who knows where Wellick is but won’t say) might have killed Wellick, who is now coming into existence as Mr. Robot 2.0. The last thing we see in the flashback, right after Wellick says “It’s as if something’s come alive,” is Elliot fumbling for the gun in the popcorn machine.

But Wellick seems to be genuinely missing (and presumed to be in hiding) in the “present” rather than known to be dead. And Gideon’s visit to Elliot ends with an overt threat, which wouldn’t be necessary if it was a prison visit. So I agree with IAJMO — that this might be a mental institution, but one that Elliot has entered of his own free will, so to speak. Think about how Krista asked him “Why your mom?” In other words, “Why are you likening the asylum staffers to your mom?”

By: andrei

07.14.2016 @ 8:04 PM

With Martin Wallström as a series regular now, I hope Tyrell’s not dead – that would mean he would be appearing as either flashbacks or another manifestation of Elliot’s illness. Neither one is particularly appealing to me.

Did anybody see the screen on Joanna’s phone when it rang? Did it say who the call was from?

By: Dave T

07.15.2016 @ 7:37 PM

@Andrei – the phone’s screen just said “Unknown” (caller) when it rang.

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 6:13 PM

I didn’t catch it, but I read that in the after-show when Rami Malek was asked to sum up his character in one word, he said, “committed”.
How clever!?

By: Chickenbisquit

07.14.2016 @ 2:39 PM

I know this is going to upset some gigafans, but the “is it real or is it in Elliot’s head” has rapidly become a cheap plot device. It’s enables the writer/director to create suspense, intrigue, etc, without having to deal with the reality of consequences. That was my biggest disappointment with S1 and I hope Esmail doesn’t make this Elliot V MrRobot struggle the focal point of S2.

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 6:35 PM

I believe Sam Esmail addressed your concern in Alan’s interview with him at the end of season 1.
I won’t summarize it the entire interview here as you would need to read it in his words but he said he would not reset the clock, as it were, at the beginning of each new episode. That plus other reassurances cemented my commitment to watching Mr. Robot.

Heck, who am I kidding. I was committed half way through season 1. But I’m loyal like that. I’ve never understand people who bail after watching one sub-par episode of a 3 year running hit series.

Cheers!

By: David Naour

07.14.2016 @ 5:47 PM

I love this show (even when it is very confusing) and I loved “Rubicon.” I am glad Cristofer in in this…

By: papaj222

07.14.2016 @ 9:08 PM

No comment on Joey Bada$$’s first acting job as Leon??? I thought he did pretty well.

By: Amac

07.14.2016 @ 10:26 PM

Some other thoughts about this episode:

I don’t agree with Alan that Angela has necessarily been “seduced” by her new employer. She came across as a lost soul who is desperately trying to become something she’s not.

Speaking of E Corp, did we hear or see it referred to as “Evil Corp” at all in the premiere? Last season, it was almost always depicted as Evil Corp, even in such contexts as news broadcasts, as if we were watching everything filtered through Elliot’s eyes and psyche. Not sure what the significance of that is.

Price chewing out the feds, in addition to being a commentary on who actually holds ultimate power in the world, was a reminder (along with the Obama “cameo” earlier) that this is a rare serious TV series that depicts the current real life government. Considering the extent to which Mr. Robot is a commentary on present-day American society, it’s a pretty bold move, really. We never saw Jack Bauer taking orders from George W. Bush.

That scene where the smart house was going haywire was really creepy — in fact, probably scarier than anything that happened to Sandrine Holt during her short tenure on Fear the Walking Dead.

By: Dave T

07.15.2016 @ 1:42 PM

I found the scene with Price in Washington sort of jarring, and your reference to 24 solidified why that’s the case. It was the sort of conversation – abrupt speechifying, overly telegraphed and blatant power dynamics – that feels right at home in the 24 universe but not in something that’s supposed to appear close to the real world. So having stand-ins for Janet Yellen, Jack Lew, and Mary Schapiro in the scene just heightened it feeling off, at least for me.

By contrast, the repurposed Obama press conference footage worked well as I watched it.

By: I Am Jack's Medulla Oblongata

07.15.2016 @ 10:36 PM

Ugh, I hated how confusing the references to “Evil” Corp were in season 1. I spent much of season 1 wondering if they really were generally called “Evil Corp” by the public and media, because it was really confusing.

The scene with the smart house is something tech experts have been warning about for a couple years now. Most of this “smart” tech (comprising the Internet of Things) is being sold based on technology that either lacks any security at all or the built-in security is essentially worthless. What they depict in the show is a cornucopia of realistic outcomes where a malicious individual able to gain control of a smart home’s devices via the internet. There’s already a search engine designed specifically to identify smart devices.

By: madmeme

07.16.2016 @ 8:46 PM

@Dave T – “…abrupt speechifying…”

Well, if there was ever a time for a speech, having the Feds tell you that you have to resign as CEO of (one of) the biggest corporation on the planet might be it.

“…overly telegraphed and blatant power dynamics…”

Most power dynamics in DC political/corporate meetings are blatant.

Anyway, I’ve got to disagree: I loved the scene; Cristofer was, of course, superb; and it felt totally of a piece with the show to me.

By: H

07.15.2016 @ 2:23 PM

Is Leon also imaginary? He completely disappeared after the first meeting with Ray. Is Ray imaginary?

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 3:24 AM

I’m watching Mr. Robot via cable TV and the USA channel for the first time ever. I was floored by how physically dark most scenes were compared to last year, when I watched via Amazon and Chromecast.

It was to the point I was unable to enjoy the show much at all and longed for the gorgeous cinematography of the previous season. (The roller coaster scene comes to mind.)

I don’t know if it’s just my reception for USA (though TV commercials were normal) or if it’s deliberate or not….perhaps because Sam Esmile is directing now? Could someone please comment on that? Thanks!

By: ronozer

07.16.2016 @ 3:50 AM

The cinematography was gorgeous on my Verizon Fios box. Maybe it’s your box settings or the picture settings on your tv for that hdmi input va the chrome cast.

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 6:51 PM

Thanks for the feedback Ronozer! I’m surprised at how relieved I am to know it’s still gorgeous to look at!

I’ll try switching HDMI inputs if I can’t find settings for each one. If it works I’ll be sure to let you know.

I just learned season 2 of Mr. Robot is available on Amazon Prime for $11.00. (Most shows go for twice that much). If I can’t figure it out I will have to go that route… it’s that bad.

Cheers!

By: Angela

07.16.2016 @ 3:37 AM

Alan, I watched the Miami Vice video you linked us to, and it seemed like I had just seen that premiere last week rather than 16 years ago. When done right music sure does take take film to a higher level.

The use of music is one of the many things I really like about Mr. Robot, especially the percussion and sound used in the first 2 episodes when Elliot repeatedly loses touch with reality.

By: Protestant Whiskey

07.17.2016 @ 2:30 AM

Give same show (MIAMI VICE) and same song (“Take Me Home”) from S1 finale (I think), when Tubbs is running through the airport, headed back to Miami as best use. The park scene was good, though.

By: Nico973

07.19.2016 @ 12:18 PM

Maxine (the dog) — and the way Ray refers to her — reminded me of the basset hound in Mamoru Oshii’s films (especially the two “Ghost in the Shell” and “Avalon”). Ray’s “small talk” (animal vs human, how one perceives the world, “is anything real?” ) is also tied to the themes of those films. I also liked the serene nature of those scenes, and that the revelation comes from this place.[youtu.be]